The Hunter Hunted
by K. A. Maples
Summary: With one of their own near death, and another on the run, a group of hunters must band together to destroy the ultimate threat... one of their own
1. PR to BraTender

The Hunter Hunted  
  
A Hunter: the Reckoning story by:  
  
K.A. Maples  
  
Anachronistic Equinox  
  
J.K. Rende  
  
FiXXXer667  
  
Ash Firestrawn  
  
Crusader  
  
Red Star  
  
Jason Clark  
  
N. F. Wooding  
  
DreamSleeper  
  
Compiler's Note: This is an actual story line from the White Wolf sanctioned Hunter: the Reckoning Mailing List, complete with the In Character E-Mails. The characters in this story are owned by their respective creators, and Hunter: the Reckoning is the property of White Wolf Games.  
  
Subject: PR to Bra-tender  
  
From: "cutennasty1248"  
  
Yo, Maeeeeve.  
  
See? Everythin' be okay. Pandora's back... You can open that box once again  
  
an' unleash d' monster inside of her. Heh. You like that?  
  
But who's this Mori she seems to know? I swear she's mentioned him before.  
  
That some Ex of hers she keeps secret?  
  
cutennasty1248  
  
-------------------------------  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - PR to Bra-tender  
  
From: "Bartender"  
  
That fucking priest was in a cell with Kami years ago, and  
  
the bastard damned near got her killed when the house  
  
exploded. That son of a bitch is why Kami's crazy.  
  
--- cutennasty1248 wrote:  
  
Yo, Maeeeeve.  
  
  
  
  
  
See? Everythin' be okay. Pandora's back... You can open  
  
that box once again  
  
an' unleash d' monster inside of her. Heh. You like that?  
  
But who's this Mori she seems to know? I swear she's  
  
mentioned him before.  
  
That some Ex of hers she keeps secret?  
  
  
  
  
  
cutennasty1248  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
Subject: PR to Bra-tender  
  
From: "cutennasty1248"  
  
Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 20:23:10 -0000  
  
That fucking priest was in a cell with Kami years ago, and  
  
the bastard damned near got her killed when the house  
  
exploded. That son of a bitch is why Kami's crazy.  
  
Certainly likes mixin' it up with men, don't she. You know... for one a  
  
dose... uhhh... lez-be-ans... she seems t' hang with d' wrong crowd. I'd do  
  
sumthin' real quick, yo! 'Fore you find her givin' the Father some real sin  
  
to confess t' YOU.  
  
Seems to have gotten a little more free since havin' those twins, right?  
  
I'm just gonna say one thing...  
  
Our Father, who art inside thine heathen.  
  
cutennasty1248  
  
P.S. Wanna help me out with a little fang problem? 


	2. Things Fall Apart Part 1

Maeve threw the lap top across the room and watched it break into peices, then she threw the bottle beside her and watched it shatter. For once, there was no one to repremand her. The kid and his fuck were both off somewhere, and Kami had forced Shawna to go shopping with her.  
  
No music blaring from Ash' room. No brats crying.  
  
Just Maeve and her bottles.  
  
The shattered one by one as she tore up the bedroom, cutting into her skin, leaving her feet bloody. By the time she had worn herself out, nothing in the bedroom was whole. But the anger was still there.  
  
The door opening didn't register on Maeve for several seconds. Only the sound of a bad being dropped and a pair of arms going around her shoulder brought her out of her stupor.  
  
"Maeve? What happened?"  
  
That voice. Her voice.  
  
That whore.  
  
Maeve took advantage of the awkward postion Kami was crouching in and pinned her to the glass strewn floor, then struck her soundly several times in the stomach to knock the wind out of her. "You bitch! You fucking whore! I'm gonna make you sorry, you goddam cunt!" Maeve roared, grabbing what was left of one of the bottles and bringing it down sharply.  
  
Kami screamed in pain and kicked Maeve with both legs, knocking her away. She coughed and spat up blood as she tried to get to her feet. Maeve knocked her back down, sending her sprawling beside the bed, before picking up a chair leg and hitting Kami across the head and shoulders until she stopped moving.  
  
What sense was left to Maeve in her rage reminded her that one of the others had to be nearby. But as she wasn't exactly listening to what sense she had, Maeve chose instead to kick and stomp upon the woman that lay prone on the floor, screaming curses at her until everything just drained away.  
  
Now all that left was the horror as Maeve slowly came back to herself.  
  
Kami wasn't moving.  
  
There was blood everywhere.  
  
Where was everyone else?  
  
Maeve stopped and listened. Nothing. Not even the faintes sounds of someone moving across the floor.  
  
Maeve grabbed her shoes and her keys, running outside. The only thing left to do was get out of there before someone came back. 


	3. Things Fall Apart Part 2

Shawna had been more than happy to watch the twins for a few hours. She'd seen how stressed Maeve was lately, and she knew that having the kids away for a while would be a welcome break.  
  
But now she was ready to turn the little bastards back over to their mother and get away from them herself. They just wouldn't... stop... crying!  
  
She'd been about to shout up the stairs and tell Maeve and Kami to knock it the hell off when she saw the bloody footprints. The twins wailed in unison, but Shawna ignored it, instead going for the little vase stand by the door. She opened up the pannel and pulled out the little .22 Kami kept hidden there.  
  
The bloody footprints lead from upstairs on down, and Shawna followed them straight to the master bedroom.  
  
"Kami...?" 


	4. Please Help

Subject: Please Help  
  
From: "Mumeishi"  
  
i'm not kami, i've never posted here before but some of  
  
you know about me. i'm shawna and we're in trouble. i was  
  
babysitting kenny and hero and when i brought them home the  
  
room was all fucked up and kami was bleeding and maeve's  
  
missing. i called the number kami told me to call in case  
  
anything happened and she's not moving but she's still  
  
kinda breathing and the babies wont stop crying and i'm all  
  
alone her. ash and mimi are somewhere and george working  
  
somewhere else someone please tell me what to do i can't  
  
stop the bleeding.  
  
------------------------------  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
From: "coffeeslinger727"  
  
Whoa, ok that is not good.  
  
So I dunno who Kami is, so I'll start with the obvious. Call an ambulance.  
  
That being said, get bandages, don't have any, use sheets or towels, bind up  
  
the things that are bleeding. But listen, if she is bad, if she was hit with  
  
objects or cut deeply you are going to have to get a doctor  
  
Or a healer.   
  
Now. Do it now. Don't think, don't worry, you have to act now.  
  
Sorry, if you were here I could fix it.  
  
coffeeslinger727  
  
On 10/29/03 6:59 PM, "Mumeishi" wrote:  
  
i'm not kami, i've never posted here before but some of  
  
you know about me. i'm shawna and we're in trouble. i was  
  
babysitting kenny and hero and when i brought them home the  
  
room was all fucked up and kami was bleeding and maeve's  
  
missing. i called the number kami told me to call in case  
  
anything happened and she's not moving but she's still  
  
kinda breathing and the babies wont stop crying and i'm all  
  
alone her. ash and mimi are somewhere and george working  
  
somewhere else someone please tell me what to do i can't  
  
stop the bleeding.  
  
---------------------------------------  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
From: "FiXXXer667"  
  
I'm coming.  
  
Get towels, press hard on the bleeding spot.  
  
To anyone reading this, help.  
  
i'm not kami, i've never posted here before but some of  
  
you know about me. i'm shawna and we're in trouble. i was  
  
babysitting kenny and hero and when i brought them home the  
  
room was all fucked up and kami was bleeding and maeve's  
  
missing. i called the number kami told me to call in case  
  
anything happened and she's not moving but she's still  
  
kinda breathing and the babies wont stop crying and i'm all  
  
alone her. ash and mimi are somewhere and george working  
  
somewhere else someone please tell me what to do i can't  
  
stop the bleeding.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
From: "RedRidingHood1277"  
  
Where are you? I may be able to help but I have to know how far away you  
  
are.  
  
-RedRidingHood1277  
  
I'm coming.  
  
Get towels, press hard on the bleeding spot.  
  
  
  
To anyone reading this, help.  
  
  
  
i'm not kami, i've never posted here before but some of  
  
you know about me. i'm shawna and we're in trouble. i was  
  
babysitting kenny and hero and when i brought them home the  
  
room was all fucked up and kami was bleeding and maeve's  
  
missing. i called the number kami told me to call in case  
  
anything happened and she's not moving but she's still  
  
kinda breathing and the babies wont stop crying and i'm all  
  
alone her. ash and mimi are somewhere and george working  
  
somewhere else someone please tell me what to do i can't  
  
stop the bleeding.  
  
--------------  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
From: Dragonslayers  
  
i'm not kami, i've never posted here before but some of  
  
you know about me. i'm shawna and we're in trouble. i was  
  
babysitting kenny and hero and when i brought them home the  
  
room was all fucked up and kami was bleeding and maeve's  
  
missing. i called the number kami told me to call in case  
  
anything happened and she's not moving but she's still  
  
kinda breathing and the babies wont stop crying and i'm all  
  
alone her. ash and mimi are somewhere and george working  
  
somewhere else someone please tell me what to do i can't  
  
stop the bleeding.  
  
Call this number right away.  
  
985-383-0090  
  
Ask for Saint George.  
  
-Lou  
  
----------------------  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
From: "FiXXXer667"  
  
We're in New York, the upstate part.  
  
----- Original Message -----   
  
From: "RedRidingHood1277"  
  
To: "Hunter List" hunter.list@list.white-wolf.com  
  
Sent: Thursday, October 30, 2003 2:34 AM  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
Where are you? I may be able to help but I have to know how far away you  
  
are.  
  
-RedRidingHood1277  
  
  
  
  
  
---------------------------  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
From: "FiXXXer667"  
  
We can't. Kami told us to never call an ambulance, but to call some friends  
  
of hers, and I did, but they wont be here for hours. Kami is our healer.  
  
----- Original Message -----  
  
From: "coffeeslinger727"  
  
To: "Hunter List" hunter.list@list.white-wolf.com  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
  
  
Whoa, ok that is not good.  
  
  
  
So I dunno who Kami is, so I'll start with the obvious. Call an ambulance.  
  
  
  
That being said, get bandages, don't have any, use sheets or towels, bind  
  
up  
  
the things that are bleeding. But listen, if she is bad, if she was hit  
  
with  
  
objects or cut deeply you are going to have to get a doctor  
  
  
  
Or a healer.  
  
  
  
Now. Do it now. Don't think, don't worry, you have to act now.  
  
  
  
Sorry, if you were here I could fix it.  
  
  
  
coffeeslinger727 


	5. Bloody Hell Part 1

George looked paler than most fangs he had encountered since his imbuing as he slammed his laptop shut. Bolting out of his seat, he fumbled with his trenchcoat as he dashed to the server room's exit.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" Camp, the computer geek in the next seat demanded. George gave the technomancer a glance and didn't bother to reply as he ran to the parking lot. After a dash on the stairs, George rode the black Honda VTX and spinned for a second before letting the handbrake loose, instantly bursting into motion.  
  
Kami was bleeding. Thank God Kami had made sure Shawna knew her account password, or no one might have found out in time.  
  
Lights and vehicles were moving in a flurry of images as he sped through the city to Kami's house. What the fuck had happened? The fangs wouldn't have left Kami alive.. If she was still alive by now. He shuddered with this thought, and tried to accelerate, which was quite something, seeing that he was already speeding with 190 mph. Nasty little "if onlys" began sneaking into George's head. If only he had been there... if only he was closer... George cursed as he swindled the bike moments before colliding with a truck, and focused on the road again.. just two more miles.  
  
Two of the longest miles of his life. What if it had been a fang, or a blood slave? What if what had hurt Kami was still in the house? Would he be coming back to two dead women?  
  
An image of another dead girl filled his eyes, as everything turned to black and white, almost like those corny movie flashbacks. He wasn't in New York any more. He was home. holding Lisa in his hands. Bloody. Dead. George shook his head and growled, forcing his thoughts back in their small corner of his mind, as he swerved past a few more cars.  
  
The bike screeched to a halt a few moments later, The smell of burnt rubber filling the air. George jumped up from the motorcycle, never registering the metallic sound it made as it fell on the asphalt. The front door was still ajar, and George pushed it wide open as he shouted, almost in panic. "Shawna?"  
  
He could hear the babies crying upstairs. "George?" Shawna called down over the din. Climbing up the stairs with three moves, he ran towards the wailing sound of the infants.  
  
George found Shawna in the master bedroom, which looked like a war had been fought inside. The twins were strapped into their carriers, and Kami was on the bed. Shawna had pressed a sheet to the wounds on her stomach, but the sheet was bright red. There was blood and class everywhere.  
  
"Shawna? Kami? Is she..?"  
  
"I came home and everything was like this..." she said, looking up at George with barely contained panic. "Midfielder said he was sending people to come help but there's so much blood..."  
  
"FUCK! Shawna, get the babies out of here, keep pressing on the sheet, I'm getting antiseptic and bandages."  
  
"I couldn't just leave them alone... Maeve's missing..."  
  
Rushing to the bathroom, he pulled the plastic first aid box cover, almost tearing it apart. Grabbing some peroxide and everything looking like bandages and towels, he bolted back to the bedroom. Fragments of glass lay everywhere, and George noticed a ripped Jack Daniels sticker on one particularly sharp piece. Leaning over Kami, he removed the sheets and tried to find the wound, while using his other hand and teeth to open the peroxide bottle. Shawna looked like she was about to throw up... and Kami looked like she'd gone 15 rounds with a prize fighter with a knife. Pulling away the sheet greeted George with the largest gut wound he had seen on a living person. And lots of warm blood. There was something shining near the end of the wound.  
  
"Christ. There's still something here. Glass, I think." Gritting his teeth, he felt up the spot, and pulled away the shard, dousing the spot with peroxide the moment after. Somewhere in the background noise of the babies, he could hear his laptop bleeping with new email.  
  
"Shawna, give me the bandages, and then open the laptop and bring it next to me." Shawna handed him the bandages silently, then did as he asked with the laptop before taking the twins into the nursery and shutting the door. Even over the noise and through the heavy door, he could hear Shawna vomiting.  
  
"Enable HunterNet, 667, enter, read new mail." he shouted at the laptop, hoping that the beta voice recognition software wouldn't decide he didn't sound like himself. Thankfully, the laptop was willing to cooperate tonight.  
  
Shawna came back into the room after several long minutes, shutting the door behind her. Kenny and Hiiro were still crying. "They wont be quiet..." she whispered, tears running down her face. "They're always so quiet for Kami..."  
  
George nodded, unwilling to open his mouth. The gore and the smell of congealing blood was getting to his stomach.  
  
"...what do you want me to do?"  
  
"Get the laptop, answer anything that's aimed to us, ask for help." George noticed the bleeding had been significantly reduced, but judging by the color of the bandages and Kami, that wasn't necessarily a good thing.  
  
"One of the Firemen gave a phone number.... should we call?"  
  
"Don't call. I don't think phones can help much here.. Push here while I turn her around, I think she's bleeding from her back too."  
  
"There was glass under her when I put her on the bed..." Shawna said, putting her hands where George indicated.  
  
Turning Kami around revealed a few more open wounds, although much less serious than the one on her stomach. George ripped away her already torn shirt, and treated the wounds with some disinfectant while cursing under his breath.  
  
"There's so much blood..."  
  
George nodded once again. Inside his head, facts were adding up. Kami had been attacked with a broken bottle. apparently, one of many broken bottles, judging by the amount of glass in the room. The smell of whiskey hung in the room as well.. someone drunk had attacked Kami.  
  
And all the drinks in the house were currently decorating the bedroom they stood in.  
  
And the only person who had been in the house... was Maeve.  
  
Cursing once again, he put his head on Kami's back. He could make out a faint heartbeat. At least the blood from the front wound didn't have a dark hue, so he guessed that the liver and stomach weren't damaged. Not lethally, at least.  
  
"The bitch dies, whether Kami likes it or not."  
  
"... maybe... we should call the Firemen? They know what we should do, right?"  
  
"I don't know.." 


	6. Please Help: Introducing Father Mori

Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
From: "Anachronistic Equinox"  
  
Where are you?  
  
Mori 437  
  
Fortitudine Vincimus  
  
----------------------------  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
From: "Anachronistic Equinox"  
  
Good.  
  
Mori 437  
  
Fortitudine Vincimus  
  
From: "FiXXXer667"  
  
Reply-To: "Hunter List" hunter.list@list.white-wolf.com  
  
To: "Hunter List" hunter.list@list.white-wolf.com  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2003 03:13:57 +0200  
  
  
  
We're in New York, the upstate part.  
  
----------------------------------  
  
Subject: Re: Hunter List - Please Help  
  
From: "Anachronistic Equinox" kaffegrut@hotmail.com  
  
I've healed her before. If need be and God willing I will do so again.  
  
Mori 437  
  
Fortitudine Vincimus 


	7. Bloody Hell Part 2

Shawna hung up the phone. "They said not to take any more of the glass out of the wounds, and that we need to get her to a real doctor with an IV drip and stuff."  
  
"Great. Disobeying Kami's orders... and any good ideas on how to do that without the van? She's definitely not in a condition for me to take her there with the bike."  
  
Shawna went to Kami's side and tried to roll her over. "The people I called first said they'd be bringing a doctor, but the Fireman said to get her into a fetal position."  
  
"Ok, we'll do that, and let's hope Midfielder's buddies get here soon." George replied, as he helped Shawna move Kami's body.  
  
"There's so much blood... it can't all be Kami's, can it?"  
  
The way Kami didn't react to being moved like a puppet scared the living shit out of him. Her face almost looked like porcelain from the loss of blood.  
  
"I don't know Shawna. I don't know."  
  
"Maeve.... she couldn't have done this. She loves Kami."  
  
"That bitch was psycho from the get-go, Shawna. No one else in this house can have done that. Do you think Kami would sit around and get stabbed and shit by anything that looked like a monster? She didn't even put up a fight against the bloody bitch!" George yelled, his face red with anger.  
  
Shawna looked fit to burst into hysterics when the sound of someone running up the stairs reached them. George put the glock he had drawn at the sound of footsteps on the nearby desk, cursing.  
  
"Shawna?" Midfeilder called, using the door frame to swing into the room. "Oh fuck." He turned his head. "Up here, Doc!"  
  
"Hurry man. Thank goodness you got here. She's been bleeding for a while though i can't tell if it's only her blood in the room. She got stabbed with a bottle on the stomach, and she got slashed up in the back. I think she got beat too." George added, seeing the bruised blue hue some parts of her head and back had started to take.  
  
Five feet woth of fury and hustle pushed Midfielder out of the way and strode across the floor, going over to the bed. The short Native woman turned around and barked, "IV, fluid, in the van, get it now."  
  
Midfielder looked from the woman to George, then to Shawna (who was slumping in the corner), then towards the nursery. He nodded. "Get Hiiro and Kenny downstairs," he said to George before leaving the room. The woman was bent over Kami, looking her over.  
  
George nodded, heading outside the bedroom, where Shawna had taken the crib. Shawna followed him in, stepping around the trash can filled with vomit. She picked up one of the boys. "She's gonna be okay now, right?"  
  
He still wasn't sure about this. The werewolves were Kami's friends, but they looked more capable of causing wounds than healing them to him.  
  
They both heard the little woman growl at Cyrus as soon as he came into the master bedroom, demanding to know what had happen. "Get out of here, pup. Go secure the house and grounds or something."  
  
George nodded thoughtfully for a moment, before going for his coat. Pulling out his cellphone from there, he speed-dialed a number. "She's gonna be alright for sure, Shawna." he replied before a voice answered his phonecall.  
  
Cyrus came into the room and went right over to the crib, looking from the one still in there to Shawna. "They're alright?" he asked in a horse whisper. Shawna nodded as Cyrus took the child in her arms. The baby finally stopped crying.  
  
"Tim? shut up and listen for a sec. I've got someone here, one of us.... Yes.. Badly wounded.. Yes... No, right now. Yes, I will.. Ok, I'll come pick you up at Zenwarp. 10 minutes."  
  
George closed the phone, put it in his pocket while nodding a greeting to Cyrus. grabbing his coat, he walked out of the room. 


	8. A Reaction from C&N

Stacey spat out her Sprite... all over the screen; only vaguely aware of it dripping down onto the desk - little pattering sounds in the uncomfortable silence.  
  
"This can't be my fault," she coughed. "No way. No, that Maeve hit her before. She's fuckin' insane."  
  
*YIP!*  
  
Buddy nudged at an ankle, wanting to be picked up to see what was happening up there - leaving a wet-nose impression on her sock. She obliged absently, and just sat there stiffly as the fluffy furball lapped happily at the wet screen.  
  
"You think this is my fault, Buddy?"  
  
His little triangular points twitched at the sound of his name, and he maneuvered a speedy one-eighty, falling back clumsily on his haunches. Stacey usually laughed at that. And Buddy knew this.  
  
*YIP?*  
  
It was questioning. Stacey shrugged. "She ain't home yet. An' she'd bust my ass if she knew 'bout this."  
  
((* Lick *))  
  
"Yeah. Love you too." She sighed as she heard Alex's key in the door. "Best put on a smile, Buddy. Either that, or I plead PMS... if she don't already know my damn cycle." 


	9. Old Wounds

Mori lit a pipe and thoughtfully patted on it while reading Shawna's message again. He had a pretty good idea of what had happened, after all it wasn't the first time anything like this had happened to Kami.  
  
He left the computer and walked over to the dirty table where he had dismantled his guns and poured himself a glass of Gin. "Thought I told her what was gonna happen next time anything like this happened. Guess she didn't listen..."  
  
What he wanted most was to hunt down Bartender and put a few tender holes in her body, but he couldn't be sure she was responsible for this. The scars on his body ached, but it was an ache he had grown intimately familiar with the last year. Being close to a claymore when it detonated was not good for your health, neither was going head to head with skinchangers or vampires. When he thought back he understood why people were so surprised he was still alive.  
  
But Kami had been a close friend once, back when he was new to the hunt. And if something had killed or injured her it needed killing. Bad.  
  
Oiling his gun didn't take as long now that he was used to the stiffness in his left hand. After two hours he rose from his chair, packed up and left the room. A testament to his fury was the fact that he hadn't even touched his drink. 


	10. All He Wants for Christmas

"I've figured out what I'm getting Kami for Christmas." Cyrus informed his packmate Calvin as they patroled the perimiter of Kami's property. Calvin looked down at his pack leader and gave him a 'And that is...?' look.  
  
"I'm going to give her Maeve's head on a platter. Her scent is all over that room, and it's the only other scent there." Cyrus growled at a rabbit that had happened to wander into their path. The rabbit, wisely, chose to make good its escape before either werewolf could turn it into a tasty snack.  
  
Calvin shrugged, then jerked his head towards the house.  
  
"I know, I know. Long line for head chopping." He looked towards the cliff. "She's gonna be really angry if the priest is here when she wakes up. She hates him now, you know."  
  
Calvin scratched his bald head and rolled his eyes.  
  
"I'm not kidding! She got really angry the last time someone brought up his name. Really pissed. Scary pissed."  
  
Calvin just shrugged. Few things scared the bald giant. Tiny asian women were not amongst them.  
  
"If he tries to stop me..." Cyrus growled again. "Maeve's going down for this, and Gaia help anyone who gets in my way."  
  
Calvin opened his mouth and spoke to his pack leader for the first time in several months. "Ghent?"  
  
"I hope it wont be another Ghent. But this time I don't have anything holding me back. As soon as I know if Kami'll be okay... we move out." 


	11. The Touch

Three heavy knocks echoed through the house, sending people jumping out of their chairs from wherever they were and heading straight for the front door. Midfielder was the first one to reach the door. He peered out the peep hole and let out a quiet curse. "Who is it?" Cleo called from the parlor.  
  
"It's Father Mori." Midfielder called back, opening the door. "Long time no see."  
  
"Indeed Midfielder. What language though." Mori chided, shaking his head as he entered the old house with the once pristine white carpeting which now bore bloody footprints.  
  
"Upstairs. Third floor." Midfielder stood out of the way and pointed up the old stairs in the foyar.  
  
"Thank you. Good to see you by the way." Mori strode up the stairs, ignoring the biting pain in his side. He discovered a large, fleshy boulder of an obstruction on his way between the second and third floor. The large, fleshy bolder rose to his... no, her... full height (somewhere close to seven feet at the moment), her lip curled in a permanent sneer. "Who are you?" she asked, then sniffed, "And why do you smell like blood?"  
  
Mori stopped, grinned and pulled out the side of his coat revealing two large holes in his side shabbily bandaged. "Because I was shot two times and killed a man getting here. Now move."  
  
"It's okay Mom! He's a healer!" Cleo called from downstairs. The large, fleshy boulder's eyes narrowed a bit, and she slowly shrank to a somewhat less impressive hieght, though she was still quiet tall and wide. She very slowly moved to one side.  
  
"Only because my daughter says you're alright." she growled.  
  
"I would have passed anyway." Wincing with the effort to keep himself moving fast he continued up the stairs. The noise the giant made sent a clear message that she doubted that very much.  
  
No one had cleaned up the bloody footprints that lead from the stairs to the bedroom door at the end of the hall. Mori could hear someone inside, grumbling loudly.  
  
Already chanting slowly, Mori entered the room, dropping his coat to be able to move more freely. All that stood between the mess on the bed and Mori was less than five feet of Native American in a bloody shirt, checking an IV. "No one is supposed to be up here."  
  
"Then what are you doing here?" Obviously close to losing his temper Mori stared towards the bed. Blood was now running freely from the holes in his side in addition to several cuts on his forearms and legs.  
  
The room fell into one of those dangerous silences that only came about when two preditors came into contact in a situation that was less than clear cut.  
  
Recognizing Whispers In Pain, Mori stopped for a moment. "Look, I've been shot twice and cut seven times. If you don't allow me to heal her now I may never get the chance."  
  
Whispers met the priest's milky white eyes, then took in his generally discheviled appearance, then glared at the blood seeping from his wounds. "You're not going near her with those bleeding all over the place. She's in bad enough shape without risking her getting a disease. One minute to bandage you up wont kill either of you."  
  
Sighing in resignation, Mori slumped towards the nearest wall, staying upright without any help from his spine. " Be quick about it."  
  
The tiny werewolf grabbed a roll of bandages off the nightstand, probably the only bit of furnature in the room still upright besides the bed, and set to work pulling the wounds together quietly. In all, it actually took perhaps two minutes.  
  
Pulling himself together, Mori moved towards Kami and gently lay his hands over her wounds. Tears were running from his eyes, it pained him beyond belief to see Kami abused like this. It was as though the last time had been magnified a hundredfold... where her skin wasn't chalky white from blood loss, it was mottled with ugly purple black bruises and cuts.  
  
She looked as though she was so close to death that they were shaking hands. Perhaps even exchanging pleasent greetings. Even as the wound closed beneath his hands, she didn't look any better.  
  
"She's lucky the bottle didn't hit anything vital." he heard the werewolf say, though her voice sounded far far away.  
  
Calling upon the power his Lord had given him, Mori started pouring his own life into Kami. A hand closed around one of his wrists, pulling him away. It was a cold hand, and clearly not the werewolf's, as she was on the other side of the bed.  
  
"I... think she wants you to stop." Whispers ventured,looking at the hand locked on Mori's wrist.  
  
"I'll stop when she can tell me to stop herself." Mori's words were all but a whisper. Making sure he didn't hurt her he forced his hand down and resumed his chanting. Her nails dug into his wrist as his hand moved back to the wound, though they didn't break skin. She let out a ragged cough and a gurgle that almost sounded like a word. A word that sounded like it might have started with an M.  
  
Grinning strangely, Mori kept on chanting. His eyes now had a red sheen to them, and drops of blood were flowing from the corners of his eyes. " Live damnit!"  
  
"sss...stoooh..."  
  
Mori let out a barking laugh and resumed healing her. " Is this all you can do? Groan at me? Now show me that you're still the Kami I've met before and not a playboy bunny!"  
  
"stop." The word came out like a croak. It wasn't very loud, but it was actually understandable. "baka... daitaku..."  
  
Smiling, Mori allowed himself to fall backwards in a beautiful arch and crush the remaining table.  
  
"You people are gonna be the death of me." he heard Whispers grumble before everything faded into nothing. 


End file.
